The Guess Who to perform during Solano County Fair

Less than three months remain before the Solano County Fair begins its 2014 run and fair officials announced this week that The Guess Who will be among the headlining groups for the fair's concert series.

The classic rock superstars will perform Saturday, Aug. 2 at the fair. The group adds to the previously announced performances of hometown favorite, Con Funk Shun, on Wednesday, July 30 followed by R&B legends, Little Anthony & The Imperials, on Thursday, July 31 and Tejano/Rock legends, Los Lobos, on Friday, Aug. 1. All four shows will begin at 8 p.m.

"We're very excited about the variety and quality of concerts we have scheduled for this year," stated Fair General Manager Mike Paluszak in a press release. "The evening concerts, followed by nightly fireworks will be a fantastic way to top off a full day of Fair activities and entertainment."

Bands for the Fair's closing night Fiesta Concert will be announced soon, he said.

The Guess Who, the band that became Canada's first international rock music superstars, began in 1962 in Winnipeg as Chad Allen & The Reflections. By 1965, the band had changed their name to Chad Allen & The Expressions and included members Randy Bachman (guitar), Jim Kale (bass) and Garry Peterson (drums), along with newest member, Burton Cummings, who replaced the keyboard player and shared lead vocals.

The band's name changed forever when Quality Records released the group's first single and album, Shakin' All Over, in a plain white record jacket with only the question "Guess Who?" written on it. The marketing ploy was meant to capitalize on curiosity and the promise of another British Invasion band — and it worked. After selling two million copies of the album, the band had its trademark name: The Guess Who. Following the success of Shakin' All Over, the band toured the United States as part of "Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars Road Revue" and in 1967 they landed a regular spot on the CBC-TV show, "Where It's At."

It was "American Woman" in early 1970 which gave The Guess Who a #1 single in the U.S. and unseated The Beatles for three weeks straight on the music charts. The Top 10 album, also titled American Woman, containing the hits "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" (the B-Side of American Woman), also went to No. 1 for three weeks. This new trend of having double sided singles both going to No. 1 was a rare occurrence only achieved by Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Creedence Clearwater Revival in addition to The Guess Who.

It was during this peak of The Guess Who's success that Randy Bachman decided to leave the band (replaced by guitarists Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw), forming Bachman Turner Overdrive shortly thereafter. Burton Cummings left the band in 1975 to pursue a successful solo career, while Jim Kale continued the band with the addition of new members through the late 1970's.

In 1999, The Guess Who returned to their Winnipeg roots, responding to a personal request from the Premier of Manitoba, to appear at the closing ceremonies of the Pan Am Games. The reunion was performed in driving rain before a combined live and television audience of nearly one million people. The excitement and personal enjoyment they found in performing together again as The Guess Who inspired them to consider touring across Canada. Months of reunion rumors were finally confirmed in March 2000 when the Running Back Thru Canada tour was announced with more than 24 performances in over 22 cities across Canada.

Although membership in the group has changed through the years, they have remained musically consistent behind the strengths of original members Jim Kale (bass and vocals) and Garry Peterson (drums and vocals), and backed by Derek Sharp (vocals and guitars), Leonard Shaw (keyboards, flute, sax and vocals) and Will Evankovich.

The Solano County Fair runs from July 30 – August 3, 2014 at the Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo.